The Heavenly Realms

  

The article below is a small portion of my manuscript, Waiting For The Day And Hour:

When I insist that we are raptured immediately into the ἐπουράνιος (epouranios) heavenly realms, I mean the place where the Lord and his holy angels’ dwell, as I said above, the place where God the Father is. This place is where God the Father has his Holy throne (Rev. 4:2-3). When the body of Christ is caught up into this place, we will see God seated on his throne along with twenty-four other thrones that surround his throne—the twenty-four elders are on these thrones (Rev. 4:4). We will see coming from God’s throne ορεύονται ἀστραπαὶ (orévontai astrapaí) “lightning strikes” (Rev. 4:5a, mGNT). We will also hear φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (fonaí kaí vrontaí) “voices and thunder” (Rev. 4:5b, mGNT). The only way the raptured church can withstand the brightness of God, the lightning strikes that emanate from his throne, and the voices and thunder, is because we will be incorruptible and immortal—we will be in our heavenly bodies.

In the heavenly realms, the incorruptible and immortal bride of Christ will also see the precious Holy Spirit of God in physical form. No person has ever seen the Holy Spirit physically. Christians can feel his presence within and around them at times. We have seen and experienced his work being performed. But we the church have never seen the Holy Spirit with our eyes that I know of. The apostle Paul might be the exception (2 Cor. 12:2-4). – When I was very young in the faith, a man told me he was caught up to the 3^rd heaven like Paul. And that he had seen things he could not tell me. I did not believe him. But only the Spirit of God knows whether he was or not telling me the truth. – The angels of God have certainly seen the Holy Spirit because they are heavenly beings. The Scriptures indicate that the prophet Isaiah may have seen him when he had the vision of God’s throne room (Isa. 6:1-13). The Scriptures also indicate that the prophet Ezekiel may have seen the Spirit of God in visions (Ez. 1:1 – 3:15).

The ἑπτὰ λαμπάδες πυρὸς (eptá lampádes pyrós) “seven lamps of fire” (Rev. 4:c, mGNT), are an image of the Holy Spirit. The image of seven lamps on fire before the throne of the Father is the Holy Spirit in physical form. The number seven is allusive to him being complete, and the fire is allusive to him being pure, righteous, and holy. The Holy Spirit’s image is καιόμεναι ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου (kaiómenai enópion toú thrónou) “burning before the throne” (Rev. 4:5d, mGNT). This reference is allusive to him being omnipresent and omnipotent. The Holy Spirit being omnipresent means that he is not only in the throne room of the Father, but that he is also, everywhere in creation at all times. He is in the heavenly realms, and the earthly realms, all at one time. He is everywhere at all times. Being omnipotent means that the Holy Spirit has unlimited power and authority. He is the Almighty. The Holy Spirit is God Almighty, with the Father, and the Son. The Holy Spirit is also referred to as being: τὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα τοῦ θεοῦ (tá eptá pnévmata toú theoú) “the seven spirits of God” (Rev. 4:5e, mGNT). The reason why he is referred to as “the seven spirits of God” is because the number seven, again, represents completeness, and spirits refer to his divinity. The Holy Spirit is God, complete. God the Father and God the Son are complete with the Holy Spirit. Their perfectness is manifested in the person of the Holy Spirit. God the Father, Son, and Spirit are all together, the only true, Lord God, Almighty.  

The place in the heavenly realms, where the throne room of God is situated, is a restricted area to the angels that rebelled against Yahweh. In chapter #11, I wrote about the angels that rebelled along with Satan, that committed sin, against the Lord. These sons of God, the fallen ones (Gen. 6:2, 4: Deut. 32:8), once had access to the throne room of God, but when they committed mutiny, they had their access revoked. Jesus said to 72 of his disciples: “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning” (Lk. 10:18, CSB). When Jesus made this statement, he was referring to the inner sanctuary of οὐρανός (ouranós) “heaven” where God’s throne room is situated. Satan and his angels still have access to other regions, or sectors, of the ἐπουράνιος (epouranios) heavenly realms, but not the inner sanctuary of God. However, as I have written before, one day they will not have any more access because they will all be cast out of the heavenly realms to the Earth—this will happen during the 7-year Tribulation Period (Rev. 12:7-9). But now, in the lower regions of the heavenly places, there is a battle, between the host (army) of holy angels and the multitude of fallen angels. The apostle Paul wrote about it. The body of Christ’s fight is against the fallen ones in the lower sectors of the heavenly realms, it is not against flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12). When the body of Christ is raptured, we bypass this lower region right into the inner sanctuary of God Almighty.     

In the 1^st two chapters of the book of Job, we see that the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh and Satan was with them (Job 1:6; 2:1). The Scripture does not say whether or not Satan met face-to-face with God on these occasions, only that he was in attendance with the other angels. Being in attendance does not mean there was a direct face-to-face interaction. Being present could have meant that Satan met God via a heavenly type of Zoom technology. Since he had fallen from heaven (the inner sanctuary), he could have only presented himself to God in a way similar to Zoom technology from a different realm. For the sake of argument, from the outer courts of heaven. The Scripture does not say whether the sons of God were all holy sons, besides Satan, or that they were all fallen sons and they too presented themselves before God via the heavenly Zoom technology while in the outer courts of heaven. The Scripture does not make it clear. But one thing is for sure: Satan would not have had a face-to-face meeting with God during the days of Job because he had already lied and deceived Eve in the Garden (Gen. 3:1-5). This means that before he had deceived Eve he must have already fallen from heaven as Jesus witnessed. In Job 1:7, and Job 2:2, Satan said he had been walking the Earth, so this means he had already been ejected from the inner sanctuary of heaven because of his rebellion. One-third of the sons of God would have already committed rebellion before Satan deceived Eve also. 

Picture: Old Testament Allusions and the Apocalypse of John – by Wes Van Fleet

https://oldtestamentallusions.blog/2018/07/13/old-testament-allusions-and-the-apocalypse-of-john-revelation-41-6/  

In the Clouds

 

This is a small excerpt from my manuscript, Waiting For The Day And Hour:

What did Paul mean by the phrase, ἐν νεφέλαις (en nefélais) “in the clouds?” Some believe it means that when the rapture happens the body of Christ, both living and dead, will meet the Lord Jesus literally in the atmosphere, the clouds. The reason could be because Paul added, εἰς ἀέρα (eis aéra) “in the air.” So, did he mean the church would meet Jesus in the noctilucent (night-shining) clouds,[1] the highest clouds in the air? Noctilucent clouds are in the mesosphere, the third layer in the Earth’s atmosphere. Their formation is about 47 – 53 miles above the earth’s surface. Or, did he mean the church would meet Jesus in the cumulus clouds,[2] or the stratus clouds,[3] which are the lowest in the sky? Their formation is about 0.2 – 1.24 miles above the earth’s surface. I disagree with this theory.

I believe that when Paul wrote the church, both the living and dead, will be caught up en nefélais (in the clouds) to meet the Lord eis aéra (in the air), that it is an allusion to the church suddenly appearing in the heavenly realms. One minute the living will be on the earth, and then in a ἄτομος (átomos) flash, or moment, an indivisible unit of time (a chronon),[4] they will be in the heavenly realms. One minute the dead in Christ will be in heaven in spirit and soul, then in a chronon their earthly bodies will be recreated into heavenly bodies as the living believers join them in their heavenly bodies to be with Jesus forever: “Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.” (1 Cor. 15:51-53, CSB). I believe that what Paul had in mind when he wrote the church would be caught up in the clouds was, a picture of Israel being led by God בְּעַמּוּד עָנָן (beeamud anan) “In a pillar of cloud” (Ex. 13:21a). The cloud sometimes symbolizes the divine presence of the Lord, his glory. Example: When Jesus and his three disciples went up to Mount Hermon (supposedly), he was transformed before them (Matt. 17:1-2). Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared in their glorified bodies—heavenly bodies (Matt. 17:3; Lk. 9:30-31). Peter started to talk to Jesus and at once a bright νεφέλη (neféli) “cloud” overshadowed the group, and from the cloud God the Father spoke to the disciples (Matt. 17:4-5). This cloud (neféli) was allusive to the presence of God Almighty. Therefore, when Paul wrote that the church would be caught up in the clouds, I believe he was stating that the body of Christ, both the living and dead, would be caught up to the presence of God. Caught up to his glory. And “in the air” (eis aéra), is allusive to a transition from the earthly realm into the heavenly realms.   

Some say, that because Jesus was hidden by a cloud when he ascended into heaven after forty days and the disciples could not see him anymore, that it means the body of Christ will also be taken up in a cloud and then disappear from the eyesight of those watching this event happen (Acts 1:9). This is likely why we see pictures created showing Christians ascending into clouds at the moment of the rapture. But could it be that Jesus’ ascension was not meant to correspond with the rapture of the body of Christ? His ascension was meant to correspond with his 2^nd coming instead of the rapture. The two angels that suddenly appeared said as much. They told the disciples that Jesus would come back to the earth in the same way he ascended into heaven (Acts 1:10-11; Matt. 24:30; Rev. 1:7). Jesus will come back to the Earth on the final day of Israel’s 70^th week period, and not the hour when the rapture occurs.

 

Picture: Pixabay (ClickerHappy)

Free for use under the Pixabay Content License

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[1] Noctilucent clouds

https://www.space.com/noctilucent-clouds

(Accessed 1/27/2025)

[2] Cumulus clouds

https://whatsthiscloud.com/cloud-types/cumulus?srsltid=AfmBOoqg-4KwAhlP-55fJvOmxDtA2S3wyb2mFG9Dj8QIQQ-dkrJ-N2Lv

(Accessed 1/27/2025)

[3] Stratus Clouds

https://whatsthiscloud.com/cloud-types/stratus?srsltid=AfmBOopZVzZ9LQqKvrIGU67rn7skDPDR0t5JIbyqkqO7y_bNCkntsai0

(Accessed 1/27/2025)

[4] Chronon

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/chronon

(Accessed 1/27/2025)